Euronews

Venezuela’s top court has ruled the postponement of Hugo Chavez’s scheduled inauguration on Thursday is constitutionally legitimate.

The cancer-stricken president remains the country’s leader the court said. The chief judge told a news conference it was impossible to say when, how or where the swearing-in ceremony would take place and added the inauguration can be carried out at a later date in front of the Supreme Court. Luisa Morales spelled out the reasons.

“In spite of the fact the January 10 marks a new Constitutional Period it is not necessary to have a new swearing-in for President Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias as he is the re-elected President and due to the fact there was no interruption in the exercise of his duties,” she said.

The 58-year-old is reportedly now in a delicate condition according to the government and so unable to attend the inauguration for his new six-year-term. He has not been seen or heard from for almost a month.

Opposition leaders were enraged by the initial decision to postpone Thursday’s ceremony. Now the Supreme Court’s ruling has quashed their appeals for an interim president to be named.